Senior Care News

Key Strategies Families Can Use to Help Seniors Avoid Falls

Home Care in Houston TX
Home Care in Houston TX

Falls are one of the biggest sources of injury for aging adults. They can lead to some serious consequences, too, including damaging health and stealing independence. Preventing falls means that families need to adopt a few different strategies that help to keep seniors safe and healthy while living in a safe home environment. Home care services can be a tremendous source of support in meeting these goals.

Prioritizing Rest and Sleep

Rest is a huge part of helping seniors to maintain good health and avoid a fall. When seniors are getting enough sleep, they have better balance and coordination, better cognitive function, and better physical recovery. A comfortable sleeping environment helps, but it can be more important for seniors to really look at their habits around sleep. Elder care providers can help them to develop routines that support good quality sleep.

Incorporating Physical Activity

If seniors are not already physically active, they should talk to their doctors about what amount and types of exercise are best for them. Exercising, even a little bit, helps seniors to become stronger, improves their balance, and helps to improve flexibility and coordination, too. Seniors can try all sorts of exercise to find what they like the most. Picking something they enjoy helps them to stick with it and providers the best benefits.

Maintaining a Clean and Safe Home Environment

As seniors age, it becomes more difficult to keep up with things like light household tasks. Dusting, vacuuming, and doing the laundry don’t seem like big tasks until they start to take all day and require a lot of energy. Seniors need to have a clean and safe home environment, however, so it helps to enlist the help of home care providers to take over those tasks for them.

Reviewing Medications Periodically

Medication reviews are another important way to help seniors avoid a fall. Sometimes seniors have been taking medications for a long time and don’t realize that they’re experiencing bigger side effects than they used to. They may also need to adjust their dosage or change medications because of other changes they’ve experienced. Scheduling a medication review yearly with medical providers can help a lot.

Getting Vision and Hearing Checked

Hearing and vision change more often than seniors realize. Impaired vision and even changes to hearing can affect balance, spatial awareness, and a senior’s ability to avoid obstacles. Some of these changes can be addressed with assistive tools, like corrective lenses or hearing aids. But that might not always be possible, so it’s important to also consider solutions like improving lighting and working with medical providers to find other solutions.

Incorporating Support from Home Care Providers

Home care providers can be such a huge help to aging adults and to family caregivers alike. Senior care providers have a lot of experience with addressing seniors’ needs, which means that they can help families learn more about keeping seniors safe at home. As seniors experience other changes, elder care providers can keep up with modifications to help them stay safe.

Effective fall prevention means looking at as many possible contributing factors as possible. Home care providers can help aging adults and family caregivers address as much as they can to keep seniors safer at home.

If you are considering home care in Houston, TX for an aging loved one, please call the caring staff at At Your Side Home Care. We will answer all of your senior care questions. Call today: (832) 271-1600.

At Your Side Home Care, provides exceptional home care assistance for seniors and families in Houston, West Houston, Katy, Memorial, The Heights, Spring Valley, Garden Oaks, Hunters Creek, River Oaks, Hilshire Village, Galleria, Cinco Ranch, Spring Branch, Sugar Land, Missouri City, Richmond, Rosenburg, Piney Point, Bay City and surrounding areas.

Donna Wrabel, LMSW

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